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 24 May 2002
Money has been made available through the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) to provide ICT (Information and Communications Technology) training for teachers and school librarians throughout the UK. This training will ensure that teachers and school librarians are equipped with the necessary knowledge, understanding and skills to make sound decisions about when and how to use ICT effectively in teaching.
When NOF training was originally set up schools were to be given until March 2002 to sign up and until March 2003 to complete their training. As schools in a number of authorities in Scotland were unable to sign up in time, the deadline for this has now been extended until June 28th. The new completion date is December 2003. This means that although schools have only a few more weeks to sign up they can delay their actual start date until the beginning of 2003 if necessary. Schools are expected to take around six months from their initial training day to complete their training.
The ICTS NOF training has proved very popular and the Consortium now has over 6,400 teachers signed up, with CALL training over 700 staff in Scottish schools. The training has been taken up by Support for Learning staff and those working with children with moderate learning difficulties, as well as staff with children with severe and complex difficulties.
Feedback from groups that have already started the ICTS training with the CALL Centre is very positive - 'reassuring and very relevant', 'not nearly as threatening as I had feared, 'very useful', 'raring to get going'. However, most are also realistic about the time aspect and realise that there are implications for ongoing professional development. Staff must have time to work on their NOF units. The activities in the units are usually based on practical activities with the pupils, but time is needed to plan, prepare and organise these.
For more information on the ICTS NOF training for teachers of pupils with severe and complex difficulties please go to www.inclusive.net or contact Sandra O'Neill at the CALL Centre.
More information about NOF training is available on the New Opportunities Fund website www.nof.org.uk
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